No coat closet anywhere would be a dealbreaker for me. Where will you put shoes, jackets, baseball gloves? Where will kids put their backpacks when they get home from school?

This plan has lots of expensive jigs and jogs that don't seem to add much to the layout. Unless the gallery upstairs (in the second plan) is used as a playroom (which would be tough, with doors on 3 sides), you don't have separate kid/adult spaces. I'm guessing your kids are young now, and mostly hang out with you, but I promise you, that will change when they are teens.

Not only will the living room be dark, I don't think the sun room will be all that sunny, tucked between the master bath and back porch. Both living room and sunroom devote a lot of space to walkways.

What part of the country are you in? What will the views be like? With 10 acres to play with, I would definitely look at a rectangular plan instead of square, so you can put windows on two walls in most rooms.

What are the features that you love about this house?

In a very general sense I like the first plan. I like porches and we use ours nearly year round (we have the weather for that). There's quite a bit I would tweak though. How were you planning to change the second floor, given that there is a different stair location in the two plans? Do the plans work for your family? Do you want a mudroom?

Thanks for the comments so far, these are the things that I just don't think about.

AnnHK - we would make the utility room bigger and make it a mud room, with the lockers, hooks, etc. I would have to figure in a closet or two downstairs, the 20-A floor plan does have two near the kitchen.

Makes sense on the gallery upstairs. I envisioned that as another living/play area, possibly a couch with TV and also toys. The boys are young, so I could go with the 10A plan and have that bonus play room.

Possibly lack of lighting is definitely a concern that has been brought to my attention. The house would be in the middle of primarily pine trees, with approximately 1.5 acres clear cut in front and in back.

I like that the house is where we want to be sqft wise, with two living areas down stairs (we would use the sun room as a dining room and the dining room as a den, similar to 20A) plus the gallery or bonus room upstairs for the kids to play in. Kitchen opens directly into living room. I don't know if this makes sense, but so many floors plans I look at just seem "busy". I like larger, simple rooms/areas.

Oaktown - living in Louisiana, we have the weather to use the porches for most of the year as well. We spend a lot of time outside with the kids and could see them being used often. As far as the stair location, I would let the architect we choose handle that!

thanks for the input guys :)

We are also on the hunt for a plan, and I have viewed both of these before. I love the style of this home, particularly the exterior. The main thing that turned me off is the lack of entryway. On the one hand, you do have a porch that can sort of serve that function. I don't like the idea of someone having to step right into our most lived-in area if they stop by. I like to have a buffer zone. I do love the simple design like you mentioned.

Harper - have you found anything similar that you like?

Mark J the exterior photos for the plans you linked reminded me of these two plans:

http://houseplans.southernliving.com/plans/SL1481

http://houseplans.southernliving.com/plans/SL1718

I like the porches and the back entry if you can configure it like you need it for coats, boots, etc. I would definitely rearrange the kitchen to get rid of the corner stove. Take the plan to the kitchen forum--it would be great if you could have a very wide window on the whole wall over the sink to let in lots of light. The term "gallery" is confusing--make sure that your boys can play up there without having the sound carry over to the downstairs. As others have said, add windows wherever you can. But think about the windows around the master tub in 10a--not very private?

Think about any views you will have on your property, where the driveway and a garage will go?

As far as the stair location, I would let the architect we choose handle that!

If you are going to work with an architect, you DO NOT need to bring him/her a plan to work from. Their job is to create a house plan based on your land and your siting that will work ideally for you and your family.

Instead of trying to find a generic plan, figure out what rooms are important to have. What rooms you want near to one another. How you use your house. Etc.

Then put together idea books either here on houzz or on pinterest that show the style of house you like, details, etc.

One of our architects on this forum is fond of saying that you wouldn't bring a baloney sandwich to a banquet. The banquet being the architect and the baloney sandwich being the generic internet plans.

Additionally, try walking through the generic house doing daily chores, etc. So much of the rooms are used up with pathways to get to the different rooms. You'll lose a good chunk of the sun room, and your living room to give two examples. You can do better. Let your architect do that for you.

Have you considered having a local architect design a home for you that responds to the site?

Mark - that's probably the best route for me to go. Thanks for all of the input...

Mark, I've really started zeroing in on some of Frank Betz's plans. They have a plan on their drawing board that is a nice, simple farmhouse style exterior. I know that they are also able to change the front elevation of their plans, so I'm hoping to find a floor plan that I like from their site and then send them some exterior inspiration pics to see if they can make the elevation fit that style.

You might like the exterior style of the Holston Farm plan if you follow this link. Scroll down a bit.

https://www.frankbetzhouseplans.com/drawingboard/

Also, I too have been encouraged on this board to hire an architect. I looked into that locally, and around here they would charge 10% of the building cost. That's a bit of a budget buster for me personally.

For a while, I was pretty set on this plan but am rethinking it now.

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/expanded-farmhouse-plan-with-3-or-4-beds-52269wm

I just thought of one more! I love this one and there are some long threads on this board about this plan. I don't think the space will work for my family, but it's gorgeous. You can follow some houzzers who have built this on instagram. You can also search "four gables" on pinterest, Google, etc. and you will see some great pictures. It's by Mitch Ginn.

http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2013/09/17/house-plan-of-the-month-four-gables/

thanks harper! i'm loving a lot of those Frank Betz house plans...

You're welcome! Me too! I've spent hours analyzing them. There are many threads on this board related to his plans as well. People share photos, links, etc.